


Sand and Blood

by Dimensional_Nexus



Series: Shards in the Nexus [4]
Category: Carmilla (Web Series), Mad Max Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:33:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29983602
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dimensional_Nexus/pseuds/Dimensional_Nexus
Summary: Out beyond the Green was an endless ocean of sand, and no one to tell them who to bePart of a collection of story ideas.
Relationships: Laura Hollis/Carmilla Karnstein
Series: Shards in the Nexus [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2205714





	Sand and Blood

Carmilla's foot was pressed to the pedal hard enough she was worried she may soon just shove it through the floorboard. She forced herself not to dwell on it, simply keeping the car rumbling east as fast as possible.

_CRACK_

She looked into what was left of the rearview mirror and saw one of the plumes of dust following them turn to erratic columns of sand as the vampire skidded to a stop missing a leg below the knee. She turned her gaze to the Stranger standing on the passenger seat, foot braced on the lowered headrest, harness around her middle helping to mitigate the shaking of the car as it tore across the desert. She was all hard leather and sun-baked skin, the rifle in her hands bucking with another _CRACK_ as she took out the last of their pursuers.

"Last one," the Stranger all but croaked as she pulled the harness free and settled back in the seat, popping it level with her back and slamming shut the hatch in the roof. Her voice was rough from disuse. She grabbed a canteen from where it had tumbled to the floorboard and drank at a measured pace.

"How did you do that?" Carmilla was baffled at the ease with which the woman had literally dismantled Mother's efforts to retrieve them.

"Vampires are tough and fast," she took another sip, voice evening a bit as she talked, "but you still have to obey physics."

"Kinda hard to dodge or react properly at top speed, right."

She grunted in acknowledgment, nodding. "If they were smart, they would have tracked us and struck when the gas dried up."

"Forgive me if I'm relieved Mother sent idiots after Mattie and I," Carmilla shot back, sparing a look over her shoulder at her sister, still out cold in the backseat. "What's to stop the smart ones from doing just that?"

"How do vamps handle radioactive sandstorms?"

Taken aback, it took her a second to reply, "About as well as anything made of flesh."

"Then we'll be fine."

Hours later as the sun was setting, the Stranger called for Carmilla to stop. She'd been in the backseat, performing basic first aid on Mattie, had even drawn some blood to give her. Her wounds were healing well enough, and Carmilla was less afraid for her sister's life than she had been. As they rolled to a stop, the Stranger hopped out and stretched her legs for a second, motioning for Carmilla to move over. As they crested a hill, Carmilla's eyes blew wide, her jaw dropping open as she stared at the massive sandstorm in front of them. She sputtered at the Stranger as she steered them closer, "I thought you were kidding, what the hell are you playing at?"

"Relax, it's more than it seems," she replied. She guided the vehicle around the storm for a bit and then abruptly swung towards it. Carmilla bit back a scream as they cleared the storm's outer wall and was about to show the Stranger her ire when she gasped at the sight of their surroundings. The storm was being held back by something and whatever it was cleared a narrow path deeper into the maelstrom.

"What the fuck?"

"Old magic or old science, I never bothered to ask. Probably both."

"Ask who? Where are we going?"

"To the home of the Daughters of Summer. Apparently, they escaped from your Mother when the world was still whole."

"They survived!?" Carmilla remembered when the Summers had rioted. The ones that hadn't been slaughtered had fled _as_ the bombs were falling, utterly opposed to her Mother's new status quo of human subservience.

"Some, they found place to lay low. Wasn't really interested in asking more the first time I came here. You have them to thank for your rescue as much as me."

"How so?"

"They told me about the Green that your Mother hoards. I wanted to see for myself. They have crops and trees, but to see nature just wild and growing as it pleases...it's beautiful," she breathed, quiet voice full of awe.

"It helps keep her humans appeased. They consider being living blood bags a small price to pay for living in a slice of the world as it was."

The Stranger growled a little in the back of her throat, the very idea seeming to offend her to her core, "Then she's as selfish as the Daughters say."

"Worse," Carmilla sighed, the Mother that had buried her alive was as a tame kitten compared to the tyrant absolute control had forged. That Mother had pretended to care, had feigned humanity, at the very least.

"Wait here," the Stranger said, parking amidst a copse of trees. Carmilla could see what she'd meant, there were indeed trees but they'd been planted evenly and looked as well-maintained as the ones on the campus proper at Silas. She heard a faint sound above and realized their purpose. They weren't decoration, they were cover. The Stranger walked forward, hands held high, and coughed to clear her throat. "Hail to the Daughters of Summer, Servants of Artemis, Stewards of the Land!"

"State your business, Wanderer!" A voice called back, seeming to come from everywhere at once.

"If you wouldn't mind, could we stop with the yelling?" she replied, voice a bit weaker and rougher. There was chattering and movement among the branches and eventually a woman flipped out of the canopy, ridiculously tall with red hair and a longbow held loosely in her hands.

"What are you doing back so soon?" the redhead asked, her voice hard but with a note of genuine curiosity. She looked into the car and started, nocking an arrow almost faster than Carmilla could track, "Vampire! You would dare?"

"Peace," the Stranger soothed, "they were fleeing the Green. I don't believe they mean any harm."

"You are more foolish than I believed to trust anyone from Her nest of depravity."

"The one in the backseat's wounds are real enough. As were the seven vampires that pursued."

"Seven? I know it must be a trick, then. No one escapes seven of the beasts and lives. Not even others of their kind."

The Stranger shrugged, "Get them on a straight path in the sand and it's easy enough to track them. Get them going fast enough and they have trouble being as nimble as they usually are. It's much harder to hunt with half your leg blown off."

Red stared her down, expression stern, "An impressive feat no matter how much you downplay it, Wanderer. Have you given any thought to my offer?"

"To stay? No."

"Well, it stands, you are as fine a warrior as any of my Sisters. This place could be home."

"No," she said again, flatly. Her eyes unfocused and she seemed miles away.

"Wanderer, do not let your ghosts consume you," Red called quietly, snapping in front of the Stranger's face. She grunted and nodded in thanks. "Do you vouch for them?"

"Hmm, yes, I don't think they will be any trouble, and you outnumber them quite a bit."

"True enough. Continue along the path and I will make sure a medic meets you at the compound."

"Thanks, Lawrence."

"I told you 'Danny' is fine."

The Stranger just turned towards the car as Danny shook her head and leapt back into the trees. Carmilla actually took the time to look at her as she settled back behind the wheel. Her matted, dark blonde hair was gathered in a low ponytail, she was about mid-20s, skin tanned from exposure to the sun, brown eyes staring ahead and just slightly unfocused again.

"Danny, huh? What should I call you? Things have been kind of hectic, hadn't thought to ask."

"Does it matter?"

"A little, you nearly got killed saving my sister and I for what? Compassion?"

"Maybe."

That was the last thing she said for a while. As they emerged into a larger bubble in the storm, she spotted a squat building surrounded by farmland and more carefully planted trees. Danny was waiting at the building's entrance along with a pair of redheads and a stretcher. The Stranger stopped the car next to another and turned off the ignition. She stayed there, silent for a few seconds, gripping the steering wheel hard as her jaw tightened. The silence had just begun to edge into awkwardness when she finally spoke again.

"Hollis."

"Hmm?"

"My last name, it'll do for now."

"Okay then. Hollis."

She nodded in response and got out, moving to the back door on her side and carefully lifting Mattie out of the car and into her arms. Carmilla just watched her, thoughts running in a thousand directions for a second before following.

* * *

Hollis tackled the vampire pinning Carmilla, her strength and the element of surprise just barely enough to dislodge him. She scooped up a broken arrow shaft from the ground and slammed it home in the vampire's heart just in time to stop his lunge in her direction. As he gurgled on his own blood next to her, she caught her breath. A little ragged from the broken ribs, but steady enough. Carmilla hauled her to her feet a second later, holding her tight for a moment.

"You keep saving me, cutie, and I'm gonna start getting ideas," she whispered, the husky tone of her voice almost masking the worry as she heard the labored breathing. Hollis just stared at her for a second, naked concern apparent as she took in the other woman's blood covered face, blackened eye, and the way she was noticeably favoring her right leg.

"Good," Hollis breathed roughly, grabbing the front of Carmilla's shirt and crashing their lips together.


End file.
